Gallo's district will be majority Latino

Councilman has track record of supporting policies critics call anti-Latino

ESCONDIDO  Geographic election districts proposed for Escondido include what some are calling an ironic twist for Councilman Ed Gallo.

Gallo, who has supported many policies that critics call anti-Latino, would represent an area of central Escondido where Latinos make up a majority of the eligible voters.

An independent commission intentionally drew one of four proposed districts that way to ensure the City Council has at least one member sympathetic to Latinos and the issues that matter to them.

Escondido is switching to district elections to settle a voting-rights lawsuit that claimed the city’s at-large elections have diluted the political power of Latinos. The commission is scheduled today to finalize the proposal and forward it to the City Council for approval.

Gallo said last week he’s optimistic he can effectively serve the Latino-dominated district he’s been assigned under the draft proposal, and that voters there will support him.

“I’d prefer to represent the entire city, but I’ll focus on the district I’m in,” he said. “I’ll work hard to meet with anybody and everybody I can.”

But critics say Gallo’s history makes him a bad fit for a district with so many Latinos.

That history includes a failed attempt in 2006 to prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants, and a day-labor ordinance proposed in 2008 but never adopted.

Gallo also supported an abandoned effort to restrict parking in inner-city neighborhoods where many Latino families share houses and apartments. And he’s a vocal supporter of the city’s traffic safety checkpoints, which some critics call racist.

Councilwoman Olga Diaz, a Latina, said it’s ironic that those policies helped prompt the voting rights lawsuit that has put Gallo in a district where voters might be hostile to him.

“I’m not sure he knows how to connect to the voters he’ll represent,” said Diaz, predicting Gallo won’t be re-elected next year. “He hasn’t invested his time in the urban core.”

Precinct results from previous elections show that Gallo has struggled to get votes in central Escondido, with most of his support coming from the large doughnut of surrounding neighborhoods where the residents are primarily white.

Gallo said that pattern isn’t because of race or ethnicity, contending that he’s been unfairly characterized as anti-Latino.

He said the proposed rental ban targeted only illegal immigrants, not the law-abiding Latinos who vote in city elections.

Gallo said the day-laborer ordinance was about stopping people from crowding prime street corners, which he called a nuisance that bothers everyone, regardless of race.

The parking ordinance would have affected everyone in central Escondido, not just Latinos, he said. And the checkpoints are about safety, not ethnicity, Gallo said.

The councilman, who was first elected in 2000, said the city has spent more than $10 million in Escondido’s urban core during his tenure on parks, sidewalks, low-income housing and other projects.

“It has nothing to do with ethnicity — it’s about doing what’s right for the community,” Gallo said.

In addition, he pointed out that the controversial policies he supported all date back several years, with the council shifting its focus toward economic development since then.

Leaders of two neighborhood groups within Gallo’s possible district said last week they were unsure whether he’d be a good fit.

John Loredo, president of the Adams/Gamble group, said Gallo attends their meetings more than other council members.

“I have no problem with Ed,” said Loredo. “He seems like a pretty straightforward guy.”

But Loredo said he hadn’t had a chance to discuss with residents and other community leaders any concerns they might have about Gallo’s past.

Barbara Takahara, president of the Cedar neighborhood group, said Gallo seems to make good decisions when he has the right information.

“I don’t think he’s inflexible,” she said. “But I think it would be on us to really connect with him and provide lots of input and feedback.”